Economy Hall

The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood

By: Fatima Shaik

Narrated by: Fatima Shaik

It is impossible to imagine New Orleans, and by extension American history, without the vibrant and singular Creole culture. In the face of an oppressive white society, members of the Société d’Economie et d’Assistance Mutuelle built a community and held it together through the era of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow terrorism. Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood follows Ludger Boguille, his family, and friends through landmark events―from the Haitian Revolution to the birth of jazz―that shaped New Orleans and the United States.

The story begins with the author’s father rescuing a century’s worth of handwritten journals, in French, from a trash hauler’s pickup truck. From the journals’ pages emerged one of the most important multiethnic, intellectual communities in the US South: educators, world-traveling merchants, soldiers, tradesmen, and poets. Although Louisiana law classified them as men of color, Negroes, and Blacks, the Economie brothers rejected racism and colorism to fight for suffrage and education rights for all.

A descendant of the Economies' community, author Fatima Shaik has constructed a meticulously detailed nonfiction narrative that sounds like an epic novel.

Cover design by Leigh Ayers: Société d’Economie notebook, photo by Melissa Carrier (THNOC), courtesy of Fatima Shaik.

©2021 The Historic New Orleans Collection (P)2022 Audible, Inc.

Beautiful and Important

Personal and detailed depiction of a rich and fundamental slice of history. Beautifully written, meticulously researched, and a joy to read/hear!

Free Men of Color

This book is providence, manifested in what is undoubtedly the authors’ magnum opus. It is an astounding work demonstrating a mastery of craft.
As a descendent of Louisiana Creoles, I was emotionally invested by the prologue.
I was fascinated. And although I could not put it down,
I was continually distracted by the writers’ ability to transport me from the page and daydream into the sentement of the Economiste. A welcome distraction. I imagined myself, in their time, facing soul crushing oppression. Though tempted, I did not dare measure myself against these men.
Instead, I persisted reading and allowed myself the luxury of a skillful story teller, telling an important story, with an honesty, intelligence, and intimacy that only a descendant, destiny and divinity could provide.

I feel a debt of gratitude.